The Story So Far...

RESCUING FORGOTTEN CRAFT HISTORY THROUGH ACCESIBLE ART

I'm Imogen, a Heritage Illustrator & Craft Researcher

I don't just create fun notions, art and apparel based on our favourite crafts- I save the forgotten craft stories hidden in archives and translate them into accessible art

We live in a world of fast fashion and disposable trends, so, I'm slowing things down. I spend my time digging through museum archives, debunking popular myths, and modernising history, to find the "why" behind our beloved crafts, and make history feel fun, loved and usable

  • Challenging Inaccesibility

    Controversial opinion: History is elitist

    To discover history you, most often than not, have to travel to a large museum, or historical setting, walk around and read block text about a specific object or person

    I'm challenging that. Everything I find, however weird, wonderful or slightly mythical, I'm sharing with you in the brightest, most fun and graphical ways I possibly can

  • Supporting Sustainability

    Crafting goes hand-in-hand with sustainability

    Making our own items, if and when we need them, from sustainable materials, scraps, thrifts and hand me downs

    Everything I do here, I aim to do as sustainably as possible. That's why I try and minimise plastic packaging, and offer digital artwork

    I want what I find to be shared, but I'm not going to damage the planet in order to do so

  • Keeping it Traditional

    Our craft history goes back a long, long, long way. How long? We don't know

    But, it's important for the heritage we do know about- we acknowledge those that paved the way

    Look at any knitted, crocheted or sewed construction. There's a reason that seam is there, a reason that yarn was used, a reason it's that colour

    Throughout history we've made things for a reason, a cause, an intention. My artwork is made with the same idea

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Let's celebrate the history of crafting, and share it with our communities so long may it live

Everything you find at InStitchesbyImogen starts with a random piece of stumbled- upon research, and a doodle

When you buy a piece from my shop, you're getting a researched piece of history that celebrates the resilience and creativity of generations of makers

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